


Away For All Time

by aswellingstorm



Series: Picturesque [1]
Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Jealousy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-01
Updated: 2017-07-01
Packaged: 2018-11-22 01:36:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,750
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11369832
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aswellingstorm/pseuds/aswellingstorm
Summary: “You just called it a date, you literally just said ‘it’s a date!’”-After learning about Betty's date with Trev, Jughead's day takes a surprising turn.





	Away For All Time

**Author's Note:**

> part one in a series of one shots of extended scenes or filling in the blanks between scenes
> 
> also exciting note:I figured out how to upload a story without losing all of the formatting so apologies if my last one made me appear as though I had the typing skills of an electrocuted squirrel
> 
> tumblr acc: aswellingstorm.tumblr.com

“You just called it a date, you _literally_ just said ‘it’s a date!’”

-

Jughead was happy for Betty. _Really_ , he was. Even as he grit his teeth and nervously cracked his thumb, he determined that he was happy for her…or at the very least, neutral to the entire situation.

 

Ultimately, it was his fault for waiting so long to make his own move. The raven-haired boy figured it had only been a short while since she was very publicly pining for Archie, and even a shorter while since he had rather publicly snubbed her. He watched the peppy blonde fall head over heels for an oblivious fool, not expecting her to rebound so quickly. Part of him still believed that a piece of her was still tethered to the idea of Archie, which gave Jughead pause.

 

However, it was foolish of him to assume that he’d be the _only_ guy waiting around to court _the_ Betty Cooper. The star student, editor of the Blue and Gold, fresh River Vixen and over all the _nicest_ person in the Riverdale School District. An even if she wasn’t completely over Archie, Jughead still noticed the way her and Trev looked at each other—with innocent puppy-love mirrored in each other’s eyes.

 

He saw her blush and smile the moment he walked in the office of the Blue and Gold; heard her speak quicker than normal, which was a nervous habit of hers; witnessed her return Trev’s “peace out” with one of her own in a manner that Jughead could only begrudgingly describe as adorkable.

 

When they met up with the rest of the gang at the bleachers and Betty once again asserted her date was _strictly_ for intelligence-gathering, he noticed Veronica make some comment about a Nicolas Sparks novel. He had to admit that Betty and Trev would make a pretty good couple and if they fell in love in a Sparks-approved manner, it’d only add to their star power.

 

He tried to tune the rest of their conversation out in hopes that it’d make the twisting feeling in his stomach cease. He already had his shot and he’d blown it. _Typical Jones Style_ , he thought to himself bitterly.

 

\--

 

The day hadn’t improved much after that. On such dreary days, Jughead would’ve liked to cheer himself up via an endless stream of milkshakes at _Pop’s_ , but he didn’t want to don his usual loner persona in a booth in the back of the shop, only to hear Betty and Trev happily chatting their night away.

 

Instead, he elected to stay in the Blue and Gold office after school, working on one of the many revisions Betty had suggested. He was typing along happily when his phone blared loudly and snapped him out of his reverie. He glanced down at the screen to see his mom’s caller ID flashing on the screen.

 

Hurriedly he picked up the phone and stood up, “Hello?”

 

“Jughead?” Came the concerned, saddened voice of his sister.

 

“Jellybean? Is everything okay?” He asked, feeling the panic in his own voice.

 

He heard his sniffle on the other end of the line, feeling a strong urge to _protect_ surface, “Jellybean? What’s wrong? Did something happen to mom?”

 

“Jughead…” The girl paused, “What’s a deadbeat?”

 

 _Oh_ , he thought to himself, “Why do you ask JB?”

 

“A bunch of kids in my class said…said,” She tried to speak but couldn’t stop the tears from clouding her voice, “They said that _their_ moms told them that _my_ mom said that _daddy_ is a deadbeat.”

 

His chest tightened and while he was certain his own mother didn’t use that exact word to describe FP, he knew the other moms must’ve interpreted her tragic tale of woe in that manner.

 

“Jellybean, you know dad loves you, right? He’s doing everything he can-”

 

“That’s _not_ what I’m asking Jug!”

 

Her strained, high pitched voice cut him off, “He’s…he’s really trying, JB.”

 

He heard her crying over the line and his chest constricted. He wasn’t _there_ to comfort her, to hold her while she cried, or beat the shit out of the kids who felt the need to remind her just how shitty their father was.

 

“It’s not fair!” She yelled after a minute, “It’s not fair that because _he’s_ a deadbeat, I can’t see you! We can’t be a family because of _him_.”

 

She hiccupped and her sobs quieted as he gently hushed her and tried to provide her with some comfort, “Sh, sh…I know, it sucks. I miss you too, Jellybean. But it’s going to be alright, those kids don’t know their heads from their ass, okay? Dad will….he’ll get it right one of these days, and then you guys can come back here. And in the meantime, maybe I can visit you guys one weekend and you can show me all around Toledo, okay?”

 

It wasn’t the answer she was looking for, Jughead knew his sister wanted an immediate solution. But he couldn’t lie to her and get her hopes up, just as FP had done to Jughead for all of his life. She sniffled, “Okay, mom just got of the shower.”

 

“Don’t take this out on mom, alright? She’s doing her best to take care of you.”

 

“Okay,” JB said sadly, “I love you.”

 

“Love you too JB,” he said smiling slightly to himself.

 

 _Click_. Just like that, his sister was gone again. Before he could get too involved in his own misery, he saw a flash of pink out of the corner of his eye.

 

He turned slightly to his left to see Betty standing there, awkwardly shifting her weight and looking curious.

 

“Jughead…was that your sister?” She asked, confused but approaching him nonetheless.

 

He looked away from her deciding that suddenly the ground looked very interesting and needed to be studied rather carefully, “Yeah.”

 

“What is she doing in Toledo?”

 

“Sightseeing,” he remarked sarcastically.

 

Betty gently placed hand on his jean-clad forearm, “Juggy, c’mon.”

 

Jughead shook his head, averting his gaze to the chalkboard, “My mom couldn’t take my dad being….well, _himself_ anymore. She packed her bags, grabbed JB and headed out to live with my grandparents in Toledo.”

 

Before Betty could stop herself, the question most pressing on her mind came tumbling out of her mouth, “ _Without you_?”

 

He was a bit taken aback by the question and didn’t anticipate on her being so brazen. He forced out a humorless laugh before sarcastically remarking, “Yeah, she said something about needing to give me some sort of tragic backstory? Apparently she was worried that, without it, you wouldn’t be able to throw me a pity party.”

 

Jughead could see Betty resist the urge to laugh at his rhetoric out of the corner of his eye, it was a fleeting moment before the seriousness of the situation washed over her once again. “Why Jug? Why didn’t you tell anyone?”

 

He gave her a look that screamed _isn’t it obvious_? “Who was I going to tell Betty? Archie was out having the time of his life by being Grundy’s jailbait this summer, you were off making friends with Toni Morrison—“

 

The tears threatening to fall on Betty’s face cut him off. He turned around to face her, “Hey, Betts, it’s okay. I’m fine, really. I’ll see them again soon.”

 

Jughead reached out to put a comforting hand on her arm when she threw herself on top of him, embracing him in a warm, tight hug.

 

“I’m _so_ sorry Juggy,” Her muffled voice came from where her neck was tucked over his shoulder. At her words, he hesitantly hugged her back.

 

In the best of ways, it felt foreign to him. When was the last time he’d been hugged? Sullenly, he noted that it must’ve been when he was allowed a meager two minutes to say goodbye to Jellybean. Instead of making false promises of how everything would work out in the end, they just locked each other in a vice grip until his mother had to pry them apart. At the memory, Jughead hugged Betty back a little tighter.

 

“I’m _here_ for you, okay Jughead Jones?” She said in response, “If you ever need to talk or just…not talk about, I’m here for you.”

 

He smirked, “I’d much rather focus on our murder investigation.” He snuck a glance at the clock, noticing it that it was far past 6pm. Jughead pulled back in alarm, “Hey, didn’t you have a date tonight?”

 

Betty looked at him with confusion clouding her eyes for a brief moment before realization stuck her. “Oh _no_!” She looked at the clock for confirmation and began to panic for a moment, “It’s-it’s fine. Trev will understand.”

 

In a move that surprised the both of them, Jughead reached out to wipe a stray tear from her eye with a smile. “Go on, can’t keep the man waiting.”

 

Betty smiled at the warmth of his touch, “Are you sure you’re okay?”

 

He rolled his eyes in jest before holding up three fingers, “I swear on Dilton Doiley’s scout honor.”

 

She let herself laugh at that, grabbing her purse and heading for the door. Before leaving Betty paused and turned around to face Jughead, “I was really hoping that _you_ of all people would recognize that this is truly nothing more than an intelligence gathering mission.”

 

Her words caught him by surprise and he looked up at with her with brows cocked in confusion and a dopey smile on his face. But she was already out the door, walking briskly down the hall. He wasn’t sure why she singled him out, but he was determined not to get his hopes up over it.

 

The boy was more surprised with the fact that Betty Cooper, the perfect planner who could make a schedule precise down to the very second, had lost track of time. She’d gone out of her way for _him_ , to make sure _he_ was okay and put her personal life on hold.

 

If Veronica was right, and Betty and Trev spiraled into some Nicholas Sparks Romance- Jughead realized that he wouldn’t have to force himself to feel happy for her. It wasn’t difficult to feel happy and stomp his own feelings down for the most _selfless_ girl in his orbit. As long as she was truly happy, it was enough for him.

 

And, should Trev break her heart one day, he’d be first in line to kick his ass (or at least try to). 


End file.
